REACH coalition’s Arla Patch addressing historical society tonight

SANFORD — Tonight, Thursday, March 20, the Sanford-Springvale Historical Society’s meeting will feature a presentation by Arla Patch, the community engagement coordinator for the Maine-Wabanaki REACH (Reconciliation, Engagement, Advocacy, Change and Healing) coalition.

Patch, who lives in Bryant Pond, is an artist, teacher and facilitator of healing using art. She has taught art for 42 years and has written two books that combine photography with healing.

The Maine-Wabanaki REACH coalition is comprised of both native and non-native people and supports the work of the Maine-Wabanaki Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The TRC has developed slowly over a period of years and is the first truth commission on the topic of what happened to indigenous children in the welfare system in Maine.

The goals of truth commission in Maine are to find out and write down what happened, to give Wabanaki people a place to share their stories and have a voice, and to give the Maine child welfare system suggestions on how it can work better with Wabanaki people.

“Since most Mainers just simply do not know a lot about the history we share with native people, here in Maine or elsewhere, my job has been in large part to share this information with as many groups of Mainers as I can,” Patch said in an email. “The conditions of the tribes, the most socio-economically distressed communities in the country, is not because of who they are, but because of what has happened to them, for generations.”

Patch said she has been interested in issues concerning native peoples since she was a child.

“For me, as a Euro-American, I have no native ancestry,” she said.

She said she learned about what happened to aboriginal peoples when she was 12 in her Quaker Meeting.

“It was then that I decided that someday I would do something about that injustice,” she said.

The five TRC commissioners were seated in February 2013 and have begun their work of visiting Wabanaki communities. Their process is mandated for two and a half years. Maine-Wabanaki REACH is preparing the communities for the work of the TRC and will implement the TRC’s recommendations in the future.

Patch will speak at the Sanford-Springvale Historical Museum, located at 505 Main Street, at 7 p.m. The program is free and open to the public. The museum is handicapped-accessible.